Paola D’Alessandro

Comparing pseudo-absences generation techniques in Boosted Regression Trees models for conservation purposes: A case study on amphibians in a protected area

Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) is one of the modelling techniques most recently applied to biodiversity conservation and it can be implemented with presence-only data through the generation of artificial absences (pseudo-absences). In this paper, three pseudo-absences generation techniques are compared, namely the generation of pseudo-absences within target-group background (TGB), testing both the weighted (WTGB) and unweighted (UTGB) scheme, and the generation at random (RDM), evaluating their performance and applicability in distribution modelling and species conservation. The choice of the target group fell on amphibians, because of their rapid decline worldwide and the frequent lack of guidelines for conservation strategies and regional-scale planning, which instead could be provided through an appropriate implementation of SDMs. Bufo bufo, Salamandrina perspicillata and Triturus carnifex were considered as target species, in order to perform our analysis with species having different ecological and distributional characteristics. The study area is the “Gran Sasso—Monti della Laga” National Park, which hosts 15 Natura 2000 sites and represents one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in Europe. Our results show that the model calibration ameliorates when using the target-group based pseudo-absences compared to the random ones, especially when applying the WTGB. Contrarily, model discrimination did not significantly vary in a consistent way among the three approaches with respect to the tree target species. Both WTGB and RDM clearly isolate the highly contributing variables, supplying many relevant indications for species conservation actions. Moreover, the assessment of pairwise variable interactions and their three-dimensional visualization further increase the amount of useful information for protected areas’ managers. Finally, we suggest the use of RDM as an admissible alternative when it is not possible to individuate a suitable set of species as a representative target-group from which the pseudo-absences can be generated.

Ntaolaltica and Pseudophygasia, two new flea beetle genera from Madagascar (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini)

Ntaolaltica antennata gen.n. and sp.n. and Pseudophygasia gen.n. from Madagascar are described. The following new combinations are established: Phygasia ambohitsitondroensis Bechyne, 1952 (= Pseudophygasia ambohitsitondroensis (Bechyne, 1952) comb.n.); Phygasia analis (Harold, 1877) (= Pseudophygasia analis (Harold, 1877) comb.n.); Phygasia apolinaria Bechyne, 1952 (= Pseudophygasia apolinaria (Bechyne, 1952) comb.n.); Phygasia denotata Bechyne, 1952 (= Pseudophygasia denotata (Bechyne, 1952) comb.n.); Phygasia freyi Bechyne, 1964 (= Pseudophygasia freyi (Bechyne, 1964) comb.n.); Phygasia furax Bechyne, 1952 (= Pseudophygasia furax (Bechyne, 1952) comb.n.); Phygasia goudoti (Harold, 1877) (= Pseudophygasia goudoti (Harold, 1877) comb.n.); Phygasia bicolor Weise, 1910 (= Diphaulacosoma bicolor (Weise, 1910) comb.n.); Phygasia scutellaris Weise, 1910 (= Diphaulacosoma scutellare (Weise, 1910) comb.n.). Photomicrographs and scanning electron micrographs of peculiar morphological characters, and distributional data are also provided.

Supraspecific taxonomy of the flea beetle genus Blepharida Chevrolat, 1836 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in the Afrotropical Region and description of Afroblepharida subgen. nov.

The supraspecific taxonomy of the species traditionally attributed to the flea beetle genus Blepharida Chevrolat, 1836 is discussed. A cladistic analysis, based on 30 morphological characters of traditional Blepharida species, has revealed that two genera occur in Sub-Saharan Africa: Calotheca Heyden, 1887 and Blepharidina Bechyne, 1968. The latter genus is known from Africa, and probably also Madagascar, and has two subgenera: Blepharidina s.str. and Afroblepharida subgen. nov. Twenty-seven traditional Blepharida species are here attributed to the genus Calotheca Heyden, while eighteen species are assigned to the genus Blepharidina Bechyne. Four Blepharidina species, antinorii (Chapuis, 1879), gedyei (Bryant, 1948), scripta (Weise, 1904) and somaliensis (Bryant, 1948), belong to the new subgenus Afroblepharida . The following new synonymies are established: Eutheca conradsi Weise, 1906 = Eutheca erlangeri Weise, 1907 syn. nov. = Blepharidella irregularis Bryant, 1945 syn. nov.; Blepharida marginalis Weise, 1902 = Blepharida monticola Weise, 1926 syn. nov. = Blepharida ugandae Bryant, 1944 syn. nov.; Blepharida inornata Jacoby, 1895 = Blepharida semisulcata Achard, 1922 syn. nov.; Blepharidella lewini Weise in Lewin, 1912 = Blepharidella picticollis Bryant, 1945 syn. nov.; Podontia nigrotessellata Baly, 1865 = Blepharidella rubrosignata Bryant, 1945 syn. nov. = Blepharidella variabilis Bryant, 1945 syn. nov.; Blepharida ornata Baly, 1881 = Blepharida freyi Bechyne, 1954 syn. nov.; Podontia reticulata Baly, 1865 = Blepharida guttula Bryant, 1944 syn. nov.; Blepharida antinorii Chapuis, 1879 = Blepharida sudanica Bryant, 1944 syn. nov.; Blepharida scripta Weise, 1904 = Blepharida geminata Bryant, 1944 syn. nov. In addition: Blepharida plagipennis Achard, 1922, its locality certainly mislabeled, is transferred to the New World genus Notozona Chevrolat, 1837; Calotheca thunbergi is proposed as the new name for Blepharida stolida (Thunberg, 1808). Finally, an updated catalogue of the known species of Calotheca and Blepharidina is also supplied, including new synonymies, material examined, new faunistic records, distributions and chorotypes.

Systematics and biogeography of the Afrotropical flea beetle subgenus Blepharidina ( Afroblepharida ) Biondi & D’Alessandro, with description of seven new species (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini)

A taxonomic revision of the species attributed to the subgenus Blepharidina (Afroblepharida) Biondi & D’Alessandro is provided. Seven new species are described: Blepharidina (Afroblepharida) afarensis sp. nov. and B. (A.) tajurensis sp. nov. from Djibouti; B. (A.) bantu sp. nov. from Kenya; B. (A.) benadiriensis sp. nov. from Somalia; B. (A.) nubiana sp. nov. from Sudan; B. (A.) pusilla sp. nov. from Ethiopia and Kenya; B. (A.) zephyra sp. nov. from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria. An updated catalogue, including material examined, distributions, chorotypes, and ecological notes, is supplied. The revision comprises a key to the eleven known species, habitus photos, and microscope and scanning electron micrographs of diagnostic characters, including the aedeagus and spermatheca. A phylogenetic analysis based on parsimony was provided. The strict consensus tree was used to put forward a preliminary biogeographical analysis of the taxon in the light of the current distribution of the species.

Coupling GIS spatial analysis and Ensemble Niche Modelling to investigate climate change-related threats to the Sicilian pond turtle Emys trinacris, an endangered species from the Mediterranean

The pond turtle Emys trinacris is an endangered endemic species of Sicily showing a fragmented distribution throughout the main island. In this study, we applied “Ensemble Niche Modelling”, combining more classical statistical techniques as Generalized Linear Models and Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines with machine-learning approaches as Boosted Regression Trees and Maxent, to model the potential distribution of the species under current and future climatic conditions. Moreover, a “gap analysis” performed on both the species’ presence sites and the predictions from the Ensemble Models is proposed to integrate outputs from these models, in order to assess the conservation status of this threatened species in the context of biodiversity management. For this aim, four “Representative Concentration Pathways”, corresponding to different greenhouse gases emissions trajectories were considered to project the obtained models to both 2050 and 2070. Areas lost, gained or remaining stable for the target species in the projected models were calculated. E. trinacris’ potential distribution resulted to be significantly dependent upon precipitation-linked variables, mainly precipitation of wettest and coldest quarter. Future negative effects for the conservation of this species, because of more unstable precipitation patterns and extreme meteorological events, emerged from our analyses. Further, the sites currently inhabited by E. trinacris are, for more than a half, out of the Protected Areas network, highlighting an inadequate management of the species by the authorities responsible for its protection. Our results, therefore, suggest that in the next future the Sicilian pond turtle will need the utmost attention by the scientific community to avoid the imminent risk of extinction. Finally, the gap analysis performed in GIS environment resulted to be a very informative post-modeling technique, potentially applicable to the management of species at risk and to Protected Areas’ planning in many contexts.

Ugandaltica gen. n., a tiny flea beetle from the forest canopy in Central Africa (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini)

Abstract In this contribution, Ugandaltica wagneri gen. n. and sp. n., collected from the canopies in the Budongo Forest, Uganda, is described. Similarities and affinities with other small-sized and convex-shaped flea beetle genera, occurring in the Afrotropical region, are discussed. Micrographs of diagnostic characters, including male and female genitalia, are supplied. Finally, some considerations on the ecology of canopy flea beetles are also reported.